A CONVENIENT RUSE, a murder mystery novel co-authored with TJ Stoate is available on Kindle and through Smashwords for all other e-platforms including Kobo, Apple, Sony, B&N etc. There is also a Print on Demand option. Suzen Fromstein and TJ Stoate collaborate to bring you this fast-paced novel of financial intrigue and fraud. Please join Carrick Publishing, the authors and two financial professionals with over 40 years of experience on the virtual launch of A CONvenient RUSE.

“Ruse” follows two idealistic, former financial executives, Canadian, Melodie Marie Beaudoin, and American, Christina Sinclair Sanchez, who both lost their upwardly mobile Wall Street careers in the 2008 financial crisis.

After they move to Washington and reinvent themselves as language coaches, Melodie and Christina learn that several of their U.S. Senator clients are buying, selling and shorting stock based on insider information learned in their committees.

Insider trading is still a current hot button issue in the United States. “For example, Business Insider‘s Dave Levinthal recently broke a big story in the week before Christmas 2021. After a five-month investigation, Levinthal found that 52 members of Congress and 182 senior congressional staffers violated the STOCK Act,” Fromstein points out.

Incensed at the hypocrisy, the amateur detectives decide to create a mass embarrassment and shame campaign to force the Government to change the law. Unfortunately, their undercover work catches the attention of the wrong people. A dangerous and complicated web of interconnected ruses puts everyone involved on a collision course, with deadly consequences.

According to Stoate, “One good ruse should lead to another! In the case of A Convenient Ruse –there are ruses connected to ruses and ruses within ruses, which all leads to one exceptionally tangled and connected web.”

During the launch, Fromstein and Stoate will talk about the importance of investing in ESG-compliant companies, one of the themes explored in A CONvenient RUSE, how to survive writing a collaborative work, the role of narrative editors, and when writing a murder mystery, the importance of giving your inner demon permission to come out and play.

With a nod to the American Financial Literacy month, the authors will be joined by two financial professionals who will talk about the importance of Financial Literacy and whether Insider Trading is a big issue in Canada. Donna Carrick, President of Carrick Publishing, will moderate the discussion.

Praise for Convenient Ruse

“A tapestry of vignettes into the lives of characters drawn into a web of deceptions and tricks.” “A Convenient Ruse” is a tapestry of vignettes into the lives of characters drawn into a web of deceptions and tricks. As they deceive, they are deceived and drawn deeper into a web of relationships where they can never escape the actions of those who they will never know or meet. Many do meet their demise, however. The writing is laced with words and phrases that appeal to the mature reader as well as those who are discovering what the golden age of radio called, “theatre of the mind.” As the main story unfolds, the scenes move more quickly and the characters of the protagonists (and there are more than one) become credible. Watch for the weave of Sergei throughout and how the deranged mind and actions of a person can mislead and ruin. The ending is unexpected, and I thought credible. If it was any other way, the story would have been ruined, just like the lives of many of the characters.”

“Couldn't put it down.” "A Convenient Ruse" provides relentless action spanning the globe with a mosaic of colourful complex characters. Delivers a timely expose' of insider trading and the broken trust between the people and their elected officials. Doesn't stop, keeps the reader guessing right to the end.”

“A Convenient Ruse” offers a fast-paced intricate web of intrigue and deception with characters that come to life with each passing chapter. The plot line thickets with deception, lies and the movement of money through sophisticated and hard to detect electronic schemes. Follow the money becomes the narrative for several of the key characters as skullduggery and deceit run rampant in the darkest of ways, tearing families apart. Who is controlling whom and why? The answers begin to unfold as it becomes clear what one person will do for control and money.”

Suits and Ladders

A one-of-a-kind corporate survival guide based on the combined wisdom of 102 people with real jobs

The corporate survival strategies identified in Suits and Ladders: Ten Proven Ways to Keep Your Job Safe (with a few jokes thrown in) are universal and transcend national borders, industries and genders. Whether you work in Canada or France, in financial services or for a NFP, there are ten things you can do right now to stabilize your cash flow, improve your professional outcomes and keep your job safe.”

In her foreword, Barbara Morris-Blake, who has interviewed and coached over 10,000 junior-to-senior level people over the past twenty years says, “It‘s challenging to find a great job. It’s equally difficult to hang on to it. Suits and Ladders is the exit interview and the corporate survival coach you wish you had. This one-of-a-kind survival guide explains the strategies 102 real people with real jobs use to stay employed. Following their lead gives you a better chance of survival, or at least, gives you a fighting chance at survival. I highly recommend this important work.”

“I wish I had written this book before I crashed and burned my way through three amazing senior corporate positions. Then again, I was much smarter in those days and probably wouldn’t have read it. My fervent hope is that you are smarter than I was and that Suits and Ladders: Ten Proven Ways to Keep Your Job Safe helps you do just that,” says Suzen Fromstein.

Suits and Ladders is available on Kindle and through Smashwords for all other e-platforms including Kobo, Apple, Sony, B&N etc. There is also a Print on Demand option.

Praise for Suits and Ladders

“Suzen has tapped into what certainly qualifies as one of the most troublesome issues faced by many individuals today: hanging on to a job. She has formulated a survival guide with clearly written pragmatic actionable concepts but implicit in her text is a belief of continued learning with some healthy laughing along the way.” Al Emid ,
Radio & News Magazine Producer, Financial Journalist and Canadian Best-Selling Co-Author of What I Have Learned So Far and Financial Recovery in a Fragile World (and upcoming release Investing in Frontier Markets: Opportunity, Risk and Role in an Investment Portfolio)

“Every sentence of this book offers sage suggestions for keeping your job safe and yourself protected. From heightening self-awareness to championing a positive attitude and fuelling your workplace passion, Suzen has thrown enough seeds on the soil to grow a whole new crop of quality, secure and forward thinking professionals. The bonus? This volume is transferable to private life and personal relationships, too!” Nina Spencer ,
International Keynote Speaker and Canadian Best-Selling Author of Getting Passion Out of Your Profession (and 2014 release of A Time to Creep, A Time to Soar: Lessons learned for work and life from climbing Kilimanjaro)

“The way Fromstein presents her pertinent and significant ideas in Suits and Ladders is exemplary. She combines essential information with real life case studies to create a comprehensive, easily understood guide. Suits and Ladders is a perfect handbook for all employees and an essential manual for University and College grads. Zel Spillman ,
A1 Career Coach.com, executive search, Co-op Consultant, Masters Accounting, University of Toronto, Canada

"Suits and Ladders is more than a careers survival narrative. Yes, I said careers because we all know that before we go for the eternal dirt nap, we will experience 2 or more careers. This tome borders on a philosophical experience. Suzen Fromstein has obviously experienced much of what her 102 real people with real jobs have shared with the readers of Suits and Ladders. Otherwise, she could not have written what she did in a way that easily describes very complex situations in the corporate world. The book is now an accessory of my mobile office, as is The Greatest Salesman in the World by Augustine (Og) Mandino. Suits and Ladders and The Greatest Salesman in the World are mentors in my business world." JC - Amazon.com Review on Suits And Ladders (Kindle Edition)

The Grin Reaper – A Humorous Look at Death & Dying (with a few jokes thrown in) co-authored with stand-up comic/musician Mike Nemiroff. The Grin Reaper is available on Kindle and through Smashwords for all other e-platforms including Kobo, Apple, Sony and Barnes & Noble. There is also a Print on Demand Option from Amazon.

Praise for The Grin Reaper

“Truly black humour, with some delicious wit. Not only that, you’ll learn something about forensics (and if that isn’t a hint, strike me dead! Or rather, don’t. Brrr…) Loaded with interesting stats about the leading causes of death, including accidents and diseases, and how they get you to the pearly gates. Fair warning: this book nudges the line of good taste, so if you’re squeamish, take note.”

PUTTING THE "FUN" BACK IN FUNERAL

Fun loving co-authors and first cousins Suzen Fromstein and Mike Nemiroff are known for their tenacity and "never say die" attitudes (except when the Toronto Maple Leafs play).

Our subject is death, in its various shapes and complexions, from somberly scary to facetiously funny.

The Grin Reaper shines a light on hundreds of thrilling topics like yellow fever, recreational cannibalism, answers to cancers, and many other morbid morsels so ghoulishly delightful you'll want to taste them all before they taste you.

"When we can laugh at diseases like cancer, Alzheimer's and AIDS, conditions like sepsis and anorexia, natural disasters and even murder, the concepts are less threatening and easier to contemplate - unless you happen to be one of the victims," Fromstein says.

Buyer Beware

"If you hate comedy, are easily offended or think it is unseemly to laugh at death and disease, don't buy the book! But, before you turn and run, consider this. Where else are you going to gain some insight, some solace, even some laughs, from confronting this one inevitable fact of life?"

The Reaper

Want to Inform, Influence & Entertain Like a Pro? Simply Recognize the Seven Deadly Sins of Public Speaking & Then Avoid Them (includes a special section co-authored with stand-up comic/musician Mike Nemiroff on how to add humor to everything), is available on Kindle and through Smashwords for all other e-platforms including Kobo, Apple, Sony, B&N etc. There is also a Print on Demand option.

WANT TO INFORM INFLUENCE AND ENTERTAIN LIKE A PRO? summarizes Fromstein's experience as an executive speechwriter, college professor, competitive Toastmaster and a business workshop facilitator. This easy-to-follow, practical guide is designed to help you:

Engage upper management long enough for them to warm to the merits of your process innovation or cost saving idea.
Avoid suffocating the audience's interest with inane, lackluster loquaciousness.
Have the last word in an argument about who comes first in your office relationships (don't try this at home).

Praise for Want to Inform, Influence & Entertain Like a Pro?

“Some much needed speech writing/presenting advice! We have all been there, counting down the seconds until that person up there force feeding you some jargon about whatever it is your boss wants you to sit through finally finishes. This book helps point out some of the characteristics of turning that drab speech into a fab one. Perhaps even help a few people, myself included, actually remember whatever it was you were talking about. A must read for any professional or courageous speaker to help punch up their words and give you the much needed confidence to succeed. Left me wanting more. I'm going to check if there is anything else from Suzen Fromstein I can sink my teeth into!”

BONUS MATERIAL: HOW TO ADD HUMOR TO EVERYTHING

Fromstein co-authored this section of the book with stand-up comic Michael Nemiroff. Fromstein and Nemiroff show you how to use humor appropriately to engage your business audience. In addition to many examples sprinkled throughout the text, there are a number of actual speech scripts in the Putting Theory Into Practice section.